Pedaling Through Cycling Citizenship in San Marcos, Texas
Date
2024-05
Authors
Huntington, Anna
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Cycling and bike infrastructure are an important part of modern city design. Cycling Citizenship explores the relationship cyclists have with the state through road infrastructure. It is a type of infrastructural citizenship where certain rights and protections are not always guaranteed. Through participant observation and 20 interviews with local cyclists, I argue that cycling citizenship is characterized by prioritizing safety in the face of neoliberal development practice’s power ecosystem. The result of this study concludes that when the state prioritizes cars over other modes of mobility using infrastructure as a medium with infrastructure funding, design, and enforcement, it creates an unsafe environment for non-cars. Roads then become a medium of segmentation for the community. The type of advocacy that cyclists employ then are the choices they make on the road to prioritize their safety while transforming the space from a transportation one to a sustainable, healthy, acts of choices multilayered and situated within a community.
Description
Keywords
bikes, bike lanes, neoliberalism, capitalism, gentrification, cycling, cyclists, San Marcos, citizenship, infrastructure, bicycles, roads, stop lights, city planning, urban design, advocacy, ebikes, electronic bikes, e-bikes, RMA, bike crash, bike racks, regional mobility authorities
Citation
Huntington, A. (2024). Pedaling through cycling citizenship in San Marcos, Texas (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.